Shaver Gets 1st Career World of Outlaws Late Model Win at Attica; Mintz Keeps Rolling In FAST Sprints
 

By Brian Liskai
 

(Attica, OH) You would have to excuse Vienna, West Virginia's Steve Shaver if he had trouble finding VP Racing Fuels Victory Lane at Attica Raceway Park Friday night. He had never been there in a World of Outlaws Late Model event let alone at "Ohio's Finest Racing" speedplant.

Shaver, aboard his Drywall Systems Inc, United Bank, Lakeview Estates, Malcuit Racing Engines, late model, led all 50 laps on Construction Equipment and Supply Night to take home the $10,000 pay check. But, it wasn't easy, as he had to withstand several challenges from George Satterlee, then Robbie Blair, followed by Josh Richards and finally defending World of Outlaw champion Darrell Lanigan.

"This is a great feeling. I just want to thank my guys for working hard. Today's my son Dylan's birthday, so happy birthday," said a beaming Shaver.

"I just tried to stay in the black on the high side. Later in the race I tied to squeeze it down a little bit. The car was good, the Malcuit Engine was great, the Rocket Chassis was great and the Hoosier tires were wonderful," added Shaver. "The track was wonderful and the fans were great too."

Gibsonburg, Ohio's Craig Mintz is working on the best season of his young career behind the wheel of a 410 sprint car. His hot streak continued, as he led all 30 laps to take his second win of the season at Attica. Mintz came into the event the point leader in the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title championship standings and he padded his lead with his fourth FAST victory of 2009. Mintz has not scored six 410 sprint feature wins in 2009.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the season I would have six wins I would have told you you were crazy. But I've never doubted these guys. Bobby's team (Bobby Sears) and our team have been clicking. They're really good guys. Bobby and Kellie stepped up and really helped us out. When we run the 20x it's just as fast. It's just a great thing we're running so well on these FAST nights...we've been lucky," said Mintz beside his Bobby's Truck and Auto Repair, Pumps Landscaping and Nursery, Erie Shore Propane Real Geese Decoys backed sprint car.

It wasn't easy for Mintz as Brandon Wimmer raced under him several times in turns one and two. Mintz was great on the high side in turns three and four, but Wimmer was better on the bottom of turns one and two.

"I saw him under me a couple times and thought about going down there. But the curb around this place is like hitting a brick wall. And I tried to stay off of it, and stay as fast as I could in one and two and hammer down in three and four," added Mintz.

At the drop of the green in the late model feature, Shaver used the high line to grab the lead with Satterlee racing Blair, Tim Dohm, Josh Richards and Lanigan for second. Blair would take second on lap four with last year's Attica winner Richards grabbing third on lap six. Shaver was able to pull away slightly, but the race for second was a dandy between Blair, Richards, Satterlee and Lanigan.

Lanigan was the car on the move as he grabbed third on lap 12 and bolted into second a lap later. Still Shaver raced comfortably in the lead when the first caution would fly on lap 17. On the restart, Lanigan tried to drive under Shaver, but couldn't get the pass. Three laps later, another caution, then a lap and the final caution of the night would fly on lap 20 with the running order Shaver, Richards, Lanigan, Satterlee and Blair. All eyes were on 9th place starter Steve Francis who had clawed his way to the top five by lap 22.
 

On the final restart, Richards tried the bottom groove to get around Shaver, but Shaver was just too strong up top, though he couldn't put any distance between himself and the tremendous battle for second. With 20 laps remaining, the huge crowd was treated to a fantastic battle for second with Richards, Lanigan and Francis. Behind them was a good race between Satterlee, Rick Eckert and 17th place starter Brady Smith.

Lanigan would retake second on lap 33 while Richards, Francis, Eckert and Smith duked it out for third. With nine laps to go, Lanigan had closed the gap on Shaver and was racing to his inside. Soon, Richards would make it a three car battle for the lead. With five laps remaining, Francis crept into third and began pressuring Lanigan for the runner-up spot. This allowed Shaver to get away ever so slightly as he blasted across the start finish line for the victory. Francis' great run through the pack would net him a runner-up finish with Lanigan, Richards and Smith rounding out the top five.

Wimmer would jump into the early led of the sprint feature, only to see it come to a grinding halt for a nasty tumble by Chris Andrews who was uninjured. Mintz would use the second attempt at the start to jump into the lead while Wimmer battled Sam Hafertepe Jr., Greg Wilson and Brandon Martin for second. A caution on lap four would bunch up the field, but Mintz would pull away while Wimmer and Hafertepe waged a torrid battle for second and Wilson, Martin and 11th place starter Tim Shaffer raced hard in their tire tracks.

Mintz could not shake Wimmer who continually raced under him in turns one and two while Hafertepe was right there to pounce if they made a mistake. Shaffer would move into fourth on lap 12. Mintz hit lapped traffic by lap 16 and used it to pull away slightly. However, the final caution on lap 20 would bunch up the field, allowing Wimmer to drive to Mintz's inside again. However, now Hafertepe wanted in on the action and stole second from Wimmer on lap 22. Wimmer would attempt a slide-job on Hafertepe exiting turn two on lap 23 and the two would touch, with Hafertepe almost getting upside down. He was able to gather it back up but had fallen to fifth.

With five laps remaining, Mintz again saw pressure from Wimmer on the bottom while Shaffer raced right on their rear bumpers. Meanwhile Hafertepe, Wilson, Martin an Brock Mayes waged a tremendous battle for fourth.

At the checkered flag, Mintz won by a car length over Wimmer with Shaffer, Wilson and Hafertepe rounding out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action on Friday, July 31 with another Kistler Racing Products FAST points night for the 410 sprints with the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints and the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models also in action. For times, ticket prices and directions log onto www.atticaracewaypark.com

Attica Raceway Park - 7/24/2009
Construction Equipment & Supply Night

World of Outlaws Late Model Series

Qualifying - Hualmark Trailers
1. 17T-Tim Dohm; 2. 12D-Doug Drown; 3. 7-Matt Miller; 4. 99B-Rick Briggs; 5. 22S-Greg Satterlee; 6. 29-Darrell Lanigan; 7. 18-Dustin Hapka; 8. 55V-Jeep Vanwormer; 9. 24-Rick Eckert; 10. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr.; 11. 30-Steve Shaver; 12. W11-Robbie Blair; 13. 3-Brent Robinson; 14. 1-Josh Richards; 15. 39-Tim McCreadie; 16. 25-Shane Clanton; 17. 56-Russell King; 18. 64-Jerry Bowersock; 19. 9K-Mike Knight; 20. 99M-Donnie Moran; 21. 1S-Chub Frank; 22. 2-Brady Smith; 23. C9-Steve Casebolt; 24. 44-Clint Smith; 25. 19-Steve Francis; 26. 21M-Jason Montgomery; 27. 1H-Jon Henry; 28. 12B-Jordan Bland; 29. 19T-Tim Fuller; 30. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 31. 11H-Austin Hubbard; 32. 21L-Matt Lux; 33. 40WD-Dusty Moore; 34. 5M-Ryan Markham; 35. 11R-Tyler Reddick; 36. 15B-Mike Bores; 37. 40M-Wayne Moffett Jr.; 38. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 39. 93T-Jeff Esbenshade; 40. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 41. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth; 42. 1DJ-Craig Vosbergen; 43. 27-Ken Hahn; 44. 83-Noah Wagner; 45. 22G-Jill George; 46. 51-Devin Schields; 47. 48-John Bores; 48. 12S-Michael Stiltner; 49. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 50. 69-John Mayes Jr.; 51. 50L-Chuck Hummer; 52. 41-Randy Pollock; 53. 99S-Steve Sabo; 54. 15M-Justin McNeill

Heat 1 - Ultra Schield Race Products (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)
1. 22S-Greg Satterlee; 2. 17T-Tim Dohm; 3. 19-Steve Francis; 4. 24-Rick Eckert; 5. 19T-Tim Fuller; 6. 1S-Chub Frank; 7. 56-Russell King; 8. 40WD-Dusty Moore; 9. 22G-Jill George; 10. 40M-Wayne Moffett Jr.; 11. 3-Brent Robinson; 12. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth; 13. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 14. 99S-Steve Sabo

Heat 2 - Bell Racing  (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)
1. 29-Darrell Lanigan; 2. 12D-Doug Drown; 3. 1-Josh Richards; 4. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr.; 5. 2-Brady Smith; 6. 21M-Jason Montgomery; 7. 64-Jerry Bowersock; 8. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 9. 5M-Ryan Markham; 10. 1DJ-Craig Vosbergen; 11. 15M-Justin McNeill; 12. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 13. 69-John Mayes Jr.; 14. 51-Devin Schields

Heat 3 - Friendship Food Stores (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)
1. 30-Steve Shaver; 2. 9K-Mike Knight; 3. 11H-Austin Hubbard; 4. 7-Matt Miller; 5. 18-Dustin Hapka; 6. C9-Steve Casebolt; 7. 1H-Jon Henry; 8. 11R-Tyler Reddick; 9. 39-Tim McCreadie; 10. 27-Ken Hahn; 11. 48-John Bores; 12. 50L-Chuck Hummer; 13. 93T-Jeff Esbenshade

Heat 4 - Tin Lizzy Collision (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)
1. 55V-Jeep Vanwormer; 2. W11-Robbie Blair; 3. 12B-Jordan Bland; 4. 44-Clint Smith; 5. 99M-Donnie Moran; 6. 21L-Matt Lux; 7. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 8. 99B-Rick Briggs; 9. 25-Shane Clanton; 10. 15B-Mike Bores; 11. 41-Randy Pollock; 12. 83-Noah Wagner; 13. 12S-Michael Stiltner

B-Main #1 - Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)
1. 2-Brady Smith; 2. 3-Brent Robinson; 3. 64-Jerry Bowersock; 4. 21M-Jason Montgomery; 5. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 6. 40WD-Dusty Moore; 7. 15M-Justin McNeill; 8. 1DJ-Craig Vosbergen; 9. 22G-Jill George; 10. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 11. 51-Devin Schields; 12. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 13. 69-John Mayes Jr.; 14. 19T-Tim Fuller; 15. 56-Russell King; 16. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth; 17. 40M-Wayne Moffett Jr.; 18. 1S-Chub Frank; 19. 5M-Ryan Markham; 20. 99S-Steve Sabo

B-Main #2 - Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)
1. 99M-Donnie Moran; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie; 3. 18-Dustin Hapka; 4. 25-Shane Clanton; 5. 1H-Jon Henry; 6. 99B-Rick Briggs; 7. 11R-Tyler Reddick; 8. 27-Ken Hahn; 9. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 10. 15B-Mike Bores; 11. 93T-Jeff Esbenshade; 12. 41-Randy Pollock; 13. 50L-Chuck Hummer; 14. 21L-Matt Lux; 15. 83-Noah Wagner; 16. C9-Steve Casebolt; 17. 48-John Bores; 18. 12S-Michael Stiltner

A-Main -  (50 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 30-Steve Shaver[2]; 2. 19-Steve Francis[9]; 3. 29-Darrell Lanigan[5]; 4. 1-Josh Richards[6]; 5. 2-Brady Smith[17]; 6. 24-Rick Eckert[13]; 7. 19T-Tim Fuller[20]; 8. 22S-Greg Satterlee[1]; 9. 28-Eddie Carrier Jr.[10]; 10. 12B-Jordan Bland[8]; 11. W11-Robbie Blair[4]; 12. 9K-Mike Knight[7]; 13. 1S-Chub Frank[25]; 14. 99M-Donnie Moran[14]; 15. 11H-Austin Hubbard[11]; 16. 55V-Jeep Vanwormer[22]; 17. 25-Shane Clanton[23]; 18. 18-Dustin Hapka[18]; 19. 3-Brent Robinson[19]; 20. 39-Tim McCreadie[16]; 21. 7-Matt Miller[15]; 22. 44-Clint Smith[12]; 23. 12D-Doug Drown[24]; 24. 64-Jerry Bowersock[21]; 25. 17T-Tim Dohm[3]

410 Sprints
Kistler Racning Products Fremont/ Attica Sprint Title (F.A.S.T.) Series Night #15